Playing, Talking About and Being Oneself Onstage: Approaches of Non-professional Theatre Performances in 2017 & 2018

The famous American writer Mark Twain once said: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” We are likely to feel this way when looking back at the local social and political chaos in Hong Kong in recent years. The people and things we see on social media and in the news are often stranger and more intriguing than the stories presented on theatre stages. Also, there has been a steady increase in Hong Kong people’s curiosity about and exploration of local history since the handover. In recent years, theatrical works based on or inspired by real stories have grown in number, and those in which lead roles are performed by “amateurs” have begun to appear.